McKendree's men's rugby team finished their inaugural season strong, going 4-1 and taking home the Survivor Bracket hardware at the May Madness Sevens event at the Collegiate Rugby Championship May 30-31 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
On the first day of the event, the Bearcats faced University of Denver. Ayemere Oiyemhonlan and Andre Greenup each scored tries for McKendree but both conversions were unsuccessful, which lead to the 14-10 loss.
"We let the moment on a big stage get to us on Day 1. That was the first time some of our team had played rugby in a stadium and it showed," said head coach Joe Lippert. "Denver is a good team and deserved the win, but we froze in the spotlight and did not execute the game plan we had been working on for the past several weeks."
After becoming more familiar with the big stage, the Bearcats were able to earn themselves victories in their remaining matches, winning four straight and becoming the 2021 Survivor Bracket Champions.
"I am super proud of the way the team bounced back and improved match to match. The guys put McKendree Rugby on the map nationally this weekend, plus it's always nice to take home hardware."
Sunday--Survivor Bracket
vs. Taylor (Win- 31-10)
3m-Maurice Humboldt-unconverted
7m-Andre Greenup- converted
12-0 Halftime Score
8m-Taylor try-unconverted
10m-Dalton Viglasky- converted
11m-Trevor Gillen- converted
13m-Taylor try-converted
14m-Peyton Siepert- unconverted
vs. Tulane (Win- 24-0)
4m-Oiyemhonlan-converted
7m-Oiyemhonlan-unconverted
12-0 Halftime Score
8m-Viglasky-converted
10m-Oiyemhonlan-unconverted
Monday--Survivor Semi and Final
vs. Nazareth (Win- 31-10)
2m-Trevor Gillen- converted
4m-Andre Greenup- unconverted
6m-Dalton Viglasky- converted
Nazareth try
19-5 Halftime Score
8m-Nazareth try
11m-Andre Greenup- unconverted
13m-Andre Greenup- converted
vs. New Mexico Tech (Win- 26-17)
1m-Viglasky-unconverted
NMT try
5m-Oiyemhonlan- converted
7m-Oiyemhonlan- converted
19-7 Halftime Score
8m-NMT try
11m-Greenup- converted
14m-NMT try
